It’s possible to actually
make a MINI Clubman
almost completely,
uniquely yours
‘It’s a big challenge to develop the appearance
of a MINI – which is so defining and familiar
around the world – in such a way that you
retain the iconic element but always take a
step into the future,’ said Oliver Heilmer, head
of MINI Design, back in Frame 124 (2018).
‘It’s a fine balancing act.’ A balancing act that
requires a lot of foresight, since the car you see
on the shop floor most likely took a few years
of development to get there. Each unique
design evolves, step by step, from the first idea
and sketch through to clay and CAD model-
ling – and then, of course, the end result. For
the updated MINI Clubman series, which
launched last summer, Heilmer and team paid
loving attention to details, both visually and
functionally.
The Clubman, with the brand’s
signature comfortable ride and creative use of
space, is a modern interpretation of the classic
shooting brake style car body. In the 1890s,
shooting brakes were horse-drawn wagons
that transported shooting parties. A decade
later, the first automotive shooting brakes
appeared in the UK and trended during the
1920s and ’30s.
Today’s version features four
side doors, five seats and a versatile luggage
compartment stowed behind a pair of split
doors. The car’s different look offers clues to
its evolved functionality. Drivers can choose
from a spectrum of functions in a generous
package of custom options.
Skim down a list of the car’s latest
features and it becomes clear why its mak-
ers describe the MINI Clubman as ‘a stylish
individualist’. The car offers a motherlode of
choices ranging from innovative equipment to
cutting-edge digital services and connectiv-
ity (clever and ever-online, the car has its
own SIM card), as well as operational tech.
The MINI Yours programme is dedicated tofacilitating customization from Union Jack
perforations on the headrests and illuminated
cockpit bezel to seat upholstery and piping
on floor mats.
First, the new front design
features a graphical, hexagonally contoured
radiator grill that extends across the entire
bumper with the air inlet divided into six
black, horizontal struts (that can be upgraded
to chrome). It has a robustly domed bon-
net and sculpted proportions – sporty, à la
MINI – with an elongated roof line and a
precipitously pitched rear. The split doors
offer two laterally opening wings, making
the Clubman the only compact model on
the market to offer six doors. But the six doors
aren’t skin-deep: they add versatility in the
form of a luggage compartment that can
be extended from 360 litres to as much
as 1,250 litres.
There are new goodies like light
alloy wheels (with options for larger wheels
in a variety of proprietary designs), a broad
selection of audio and navigational systems,
a high-end sports suspension (with the option
of adaptive suspension) that can lower the car
by 10 mm – intensifying the sporty feel of the
ride – and an extended range of accessories.
Sure, the Clubman offers three new colour
variants, and even a few alternatives to body
colour, as well as a fresh batch of leather
trims and interior surfaces. But customization
extends to items like the engines: three petrol
and three diesel engines, with output ranging
from 75 kW/102 hp to 141 kW/192 hp that
customers can pair with an all-wheel drive
system, ALL4.
Lighting also offers more aesthetic
and functional choices. Designers integrated
the daytime driving light into the parking lights
in the circular headlamps. Optional LED fog
lamps take the place of standard parking lightsand LED rear lights-cum-brake lights are avail-
able in an abstracted Union Jack composition.
The optional LED headlamps for low and high
beam generate enhanced brightness via a white
ring of light surrounding the headlamps that
serves as daytime driving light and turn indica-
tor. New adaptive LED headlamps with high
beam Matrix function offer an inlaid turning
light and automatically adapt their brightness
to road conditions. In city traffic, when weather
limits visibility, or at high speeds, drivers can
illuminate the sides of the road more intensely
by switching on the dimmed turning light.
Additionally, they can increase the range of the
high beam – without blinding passers-by – via
a high beam divided into four segments that
the driver can activate and deactivate indepen-
dently of each other. And when the car’s front
camera senses a vehicle ahead or oncoming,
it can illuminate the area around that vehicle
with low beams only.
It’s understandable if customers
just like the MINI look. But for those who
additionally want to drill down the athleticism
and style-consciousness through a myriad of
mechanical and technical options, it’s possible
to actually make a MINI Clubman almost
completely, uniquely yours.•
mini.com62 In Practice